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Bullet points

Michelle Obama went to Chicago the other day to mourn the death of a teenager. Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was with friends minding her own business in a park when bullets tore through her and ended her life. Not long before that she had been part of a band at Barack Obama's inauguration celebrations in Washington.

Her killer, it seems, got the wrong group of teenage friends. And so an innocent life ended.

Death or injury by gunfire annually is not uncommon in Chicago, the Obamas' hometown – more than 500 deaths, 24 of them schoolchildren out of 2500 reported shootings. And Chicago is not even in the top league. The worst cities are: New Orleans, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Baltimore, St Louis, Richmond, Memphis, Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Gary Younge, of The Guardian, in a report from Chicago wrote: ''Carolyn Murray, a gun control advocate frustrated by the ephemeral nature of public anger at gun crime, will be in Washington to hear the speech (Obama's state of the union). ''People tend to get in an uproar for a week or two and then go home,'' she says. Murray has been campaigning for years in the northern suburb of Evanston and was in the process of organising a gun buy-back program when her son Justin was shot and killed on his grandmother's lawn. She had become so accustomed to gunfire at the weekends she could call the police and tell them what calibre was used and the direction of the shooting just by listening in bed.

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That sounds like living in a war zone. And that's the thing about guns and America: after the massacres, there's still the low-key rumbling of gunfire each and every day across the country.

In the 60 or so days since the Sandy Hook school massacre in which 20 children and six adults were slaughtered, another 5100 people have died through a gun-related incident in America. This is not precise maths, but an averaging of total annual gun-fatalities divided by the number of days since Adam Lanza took his arsenal to the classroom on December 14.

In the US, more than 31,000 people die from gun-related incidents each year. So, 85 deaths-a-day times 60 days equals 5100. Most fatalities, however, aren't homicides or massacres. They are suicides, the tragic last desperate act of a man or woman by their own hand. Suicides, if they are not of a public figure, go unnoticed, and unreported – the silent toll.

Two months on from Sandy Hook, the storm of pro and anti-gun comment has subsided. Barack Obama is due fly to Chicago this week to talk about gun control. It's hard not to feel, So what's the use? There's an estimated 300 million firearms in the country. This is one door that cannot be shut.

For instance, as seems to happen after every massacre, there's been a surge in gun purchases. After Newtown, FBI figures show that almost 2.5 million background checks were made in January – the second highest monthly figure in 14 years. In the one week after Newtown, almost 180,000 checks were made. It's not surprising gun fatalities are forecast to rise. There was a lull of 28,000 gun deaths in 2000 from a peak of 37,000 in 1993. But step back a bit . . . Wait, did I just write of 28,000 deaths as a lull?

If it were not so despairingly calamitous, it would be surreal. But then it's the perfect place for reality to come up against surrealism and the theatre of the absurd, all on the bill under the banner of ''The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun''.

Yes. Quite so. Well said that actor in this theatre, he in the long black coat, pistols slung on his hips, rifle in hand, steel glint in his eyes, chiselled jaw line framing a righteous determination. He may protest that he is not a gunslinger but he is. He is, predictably, Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association.

LaPierre was speaking after Newtown. He also said schools should have armed guards on their gates. He also urged Obama ''to use caution when attacking clearly defined absolutes in favour of his principles. Whenabsolutes are abandoned for principles, the US constitution becomes a blank slate for anyone's graffiti.''

LaPierre was referring to the second amendment and its right for a well-armed militia, sorry God-fearing, populace, to arm itself to the teeth against the enemy. What enemy? The enemy within. The enemy thatlurks within the body of Adam Lanza, for instance. The enemy that walks among the people, and how do you stop or even frighten these types? You allow the meanest, most ferocious rapid-firing guns into your homes to keep you safe. Or your church, if you live in certain states such as Arkansas, which sees nothing incongruous in having churchgoers carry concealed weapons into their holy sanctuaries. Other states to allow parishioners to tote the bible and bullet are Louisiana, Wyoming and South Carolina.

The depressing thing is that it's not at all surprising. Now, everything seems normal. As Canadian songwriter Bruce Cockburn sings: The trouble with normal is it always get worse.

Given that the logic of the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is not to have the gun is unrealistic, then the pro-gun lobby would have it be that the only thing that stops a bad kid with a gun is a good kid with a gun. That's a comforting role model. That's Wayne's world. Hey kids, you can play stairway to heaven with that one, all the time. And while you're at it, check out the NRA's website for these bits of merchandise. Accessorise your life, the NRA way.

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The ''karambit'' style fighting knife dates back to 11th century. Originally designed as a farming tool, its subsequent evolution into a sophisticated fighting implement makes it uniquely suited for both daily carry and self-defence. A hallmark of this style is its integral finger loop – a remarkable safety feature which prevents the blade from slipping or being stripped from your hand when in use.

The NRA Dark Ops Vendetta puts a tactical spin on this ancient design. Built of Dark Ops' legendary CTV2 steel, with a fractionally higher stainless content, it's treated with a Titanium Carbonitride coating which makes it highly resistant to humidity, body sweat, blood and corrosive fluids. A deep hollow-grinding process forms a razor-sharp slicing edge on the outside, while the inside edge has a broader flat grind with serrations for heavy duty cutting. Multiple finger grooves and traction notching provide secure grip and leverage – important for utility use, but VITAL for self-defense! An included sheath and chain allow for concealment around the neck, ankle, or forearm.

The PanicPort™ through-hole in the tail of the tang ensures dependable unsheathing, even with 85% of the knife concealed. All user contact surfaces have been polished, smoothed and heavily beveled to prevent snags in deployment. The Vendetta's skeletonized body is designed to keep the knife as light as possible. The NRA eagle, crossed rifles and block letters are etched in fine detail on the blade. Overall length: 6.75". Weight: 3.8oz. Blade thickness: 0.125". Color: Black. Made in USA. $89.95

NRA kids love guns and all kids love marshmallows. Give them the best of both worlds with our Camo Marshmallow Shooter. This pump action plastic shooter sends mini marshmallows up to 30 feet. The easy-to-fill magazine tube holds up to 25 marshmallows for rapid fire action. Imported. $24.95 Don't worry kid. It's just a toy.

20 comments so far

Ah yes ..... the Second Amendment that allowed Americans the right to carry muzzle loaded pistols and rifles and which now has the American public carrying ordnance that the Nazi Waffen SS could only dream about.

Commenter

J. Fraser

Location

Queensland

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 5:06AM

Funny. Have you read current SCOTUS precedent?

"Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment . We do not interpret constitutional rights that way. Just as the First Amendment protects modern forms of communications, e.g., Reno v. Ameian Civil Liberties Union, 521 U. S. 844, 849 (1997), and the Fourth Amendment applies to modern forms of search, e.g., Kyllo v. United States, 533 U. S. 27, 35–36 (2001), the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding." - DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA v. HELLER (No. 07-290) 478 F. 3d 370, affirmed.

'Nuff said.

Commenter

BHirsh

Location

Miami FL

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 7:40AM

Getting a "Reply" from someone who purports to be an American and who has not read the entire article or the original "Comment" proves the stupidity of the gun toting populace.

"The PanicPort™ through-hole in the tail of the tang ..." pretty sure that wasn't around during the War of Independence or World War 2.

Get some education instead of pulling the trigger "BHirsh" ... and leave your NRA crap at Customs.

Commenter

J. Fraser

Location

Queensland

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 9:05AM

Not sure about the SS, but the Wehrmacht had the Sturmgewehr 44, which was the first selective-fire "assault rifle." Of course it would be a Class 3 firearm in the U.S., and heavily restricted.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StG_44

What we actually have are semiauto rifles. The first one of those was the Mannlicher M-1885, developed by Ferdinand Mannlicher in 1885.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Mannlicher

In the U.S. John Browning developed several semiauto designs, which became popular with hunters and target shooters starting in 1900 with the Auto-5.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Browning.

By the way, you cite the shootings in Chicago and Sandy Hook. Chicago has about the most restrictive gun laws of any city in the U.S. Connecticut, according to the Brady Campaign, has the fifth most restrictive gun laws of the fifty states, including an "assault weapons" ban. And neither worked.

Commenter

LarryArnold

Location

Texas

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 2:02PM

@LarryArnold

What you (U.S.A.) have is a death toll from guns, of every description, make and kind, that is not the envy of the world.

About time something was done about that.

Commenter

J. Fraser

Location

Queensland

Date and time

February 14, 2013, 6:53AM

"LaPierre was referring to the second amendment and its right for a well-armed militia, sorry God-fearing, populace, to arm itself to the teeth against the enemy. What enemy? The enemy within."

Yeah. The enemy within our own government. In the last 60 years, leftist statists have been infiltrated into our government, and they have been busy little beavers. The government has been gnawing away (much or most of it through Supreme Court decisions) at the mighty tree trunk that is our Constitution.

Little bite by little bite by little bite. Soon, there is a sizeable chunk of trunk missing, and the tree begins to list to port, creaking under its weight.

The First Principle, per our Declaration of Independence, is the right of the people to alter or to abolish any form of government that persists in doing what ours has. The Second Amendment was put in place precisely to address the home stretch - when government directly comes after the liberty of its people with force. Its intention is to enable the people to stand and fight.

Oh, I realize that this view (which is that of our Founders, by the way) is not PC, particularly popupular, or even considered sane given the technological military advancements of the government. But that isn't the point.

The point is that the amendment guarantees the right to make any such attempt at final usurpation too painful for the government to embark upon in the first place.

Times change, but principles don't.

Commenter

BHirsh

Location

Miami FL

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 7:48AM

Here's the 2013 version of Joe McCarthy .... with Reds under the beds of all god fearing Americans.

If George Washington was around today he would be enlisting the help of the rest of the world to chop down this simpletons tree.

The First Amendment was meant for the democratic process being undertaken by the Ballot box by the people.

MAD assured mutual destruction and this person is still stuck in that time.

Commenter

J. Fraser

Location

Queensland

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 9:11AM

Another loop who can't tell the Constitution from the Bill of Rights. I am sure you will spend your time passionately defending what you think the constitution is about, sir.

Constitution: "it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government" - 'it' refers to the tyrannical rule of George the Third. In the Constitution is the checks and balances to stop the Congress from becoming the same sort of entity.

1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights: Congress cannot interfere with citizen's right to either religious observance, freedom of speech, peaceful assembly or redress of grievances

2nd Amendment: Citizens are able to possess arms* order to fulfill their role in a 'well regulated militia' that MIGHT be required to defend the new United States from the British Crown or Native Americans (as there was no standing army, citizens would be expected to fill that role)

*'arms' does not automatically mean 'muskets'; pole-axes and edged weapons were still the weapon of choice at that time

Commenter

Caffetierra Moka

Location

Sector 7-G

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 9:43AM

I thank the representative from Sector 7-G and advise that all exterior parts are protected.

Commenter

J. Fraser

Location

Queensland

Date and time

February 13, 2013, 12:33PM

Dear BHirsh.Firstly, I was unaware the Declaration of Independance mentioned Socialism.

Secondly, you speak of armed citizens. These "armed citizens" would face a super power government armed with supersonic aircraft, a powerful navy, drone capability, highly sophisticated surveilence capability, artillery etc. Just how powerful do you believe automatic rifles and machine guns are??? How could you shoot down a high flying F18 with and automatic rifle?

The fact is, American citizens are out gunned by government and can never hope to wage war against it. Times have changed. It is no longer musket against musket.

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